Safe Place
by Healer Pomfrey
Summary: Fleeing from his cousin, Harry accidentally finds a wand, which will lead to unexpected consequences. Set before Harry's first Hogwarts year. Completely AU, partly OOC. Mentioning abuse!Dursleys. Main characters: Harry Potter, Severus Snape, Remus Lupin


**Safe Place  
>by Healer Pomfrey<strong>

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story._

_I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes_

* * *

><p>Harry heard his cousin's heavy breathing; he even had the impression as if he could feel his hot breath when he scrambled away from Dudley and his gang. As he fled in panic, he did not even notice that the small path led straight into the forest. The sound of fresh snow crunching under his feet accompanied him.<p>

Harry's primary school class had made an excursion to a small museum, and on the way back, the teacher had led them to a playground just beside the edge of the forest. While everyone else was playing peacefully, Dudley and his friends collected branches from the trees and began to play their favourite game, 'Harry hunting'.

'_Ouch_,' Harry thought, when he felt a branch scratch over his back that was still sore from the previous evening, when Uncle Vernon had used the belt on him for some reason, which Harry could not even remember. He stumbled and fell to the ground, quickly scrambling under a pile of logs on the ground, hoping that his fat cousin and his friends would not be able to follow him.

However, Dudley was not going to give up easily. "Come out of there, freak," he sneered, readily agreeing when his friend Piers suggested that they should all stand on the logs trying to move them towards the ground, so that Harry would have to leave his hideout.

Now very scared, Harry crawled back towards the path, grabbing a nearby stick, before he brought himself into an upright position. '_Is this a branch?_' he wondered, eyeing the dark brown stick in confusion, before his attention was quickly returned to Dudley, when the fat boy tried to hit him with his own branch.

Harry waved the stick towards Dudley, not even daring to hope that he would be able to hit his cousin. However, to everyone's surprise, even if not hit, Dudley was flung backwards and crashed into the next tree that was just a few metres away.

In complete shock, Harry stared at his cousin's figure that remained unmoving on the ground. '_Oh no, is he dead?_' he thought, horrified, while Dudley's friends ran away, probably to fetch the teacher and get him arrested for murder.

Only when the teacher's voice penetrated his ears like from far away, Harry was brought out of his stupor. '_What am I going to do?_' he wondered, panicking. '_I must get away from here, to a place where I'm safe from the Dursleys and Dudley's friends_.'

Only a year before, he had managed to somehow wish himself onto the school roof; this time, however, he unintentionally waved the stick, which he was still firmly gripping in his right hand, and an instant later did he not only find himself in a completely different spot, but also Dudley, his friends and the teacher could neither be seen nor heard.

'_Where am I_?' Harry mused, feeling surprised, relieved and scared at the same time.

He anxiously glanced around, and his eyes widened upon realising that he found himself sitting in the snow under an enormous tree in what seemed to be a private garden. '_A herb garden_,' he thought, looking at the variety of plants with interest.

All of a sudden, a strict voice penetrated his ears from behind. "How dare you enter my propriety?" the voice asked harshly. "Who are you, and what are you doing here?"

Harry was too shocked and scared to show the slightest reaction. He was not even able to ponder what to do now.

"State your name and put your wand down," the voice drawled.

Harry felt an icy shiver run down his neck as he felt more than he heard the man, to whom the cold voice belonged, approach him. "Freak," he replied in a barely audible voice. He shivered slightly in his thin jeans jacket as he slowly turned around to face the owner of the voice.

Before Harry could take a closer look at the black clothed figure, the man snatched the stick out of Harry's hand.

"Potter?" the man suddenly queried, eyeing Harry in apparent disbelief. "What are you doing here? How did you come here?"

"I don't know, sir," Harry stammered in a small voice. "I'm sorry, sir. I didn't mean to intrude. I only wanted to get away from Dudley's friends to a safe place. I think I killed him, but it was not intentionally."

HP

Severus looked up in surprise when he noticed that someone had just breached the wards of Prince Manor.

"It is a boy, Master Severus. He is in the herb garden. He must have apparated straight into the garden," Sophia, Severus' house-elf at Prince Manor, informed him.

Grudgingly, Severus placed the potion that he was just brewing under a stasis charm and headed outside through the backdoor, which led him straight into the herb garden. '_Who in the world would choose such a place to intrude my Manor, apart from the fact that no one should be able to apparate in here anyway_,' he mused, feeling confused, annoyed by the disturbance and curious at the same time. He stared at the small figure of the penetrator of his wards in surprise that intensified upon noticing that the boy was carrying an adult's wand, one of the kind that magical children received when they turned eleven and were ready to enter Hogwarts.

"State your name," he demanded, frowning upon the boy's reply.

'_Freak?_' he repeated to himself, taken aback, only to stare at the boy in disbelief when the child turned around and he got a glimpse at his face.

"Potter?" he asked, while his thoughts went haywire. '_The spitting image of his father_,' he thought in disgust, while a small voice at the back of his head stated, '_He is also Lily's son_.' Somehow expecting the boy to behave like his father, he was surprised when the child apologized for intruding and admitted to have murdered his cousin.

Noticing that the boy was shivering badly in his much too thin jacket, Severus motioned him to follow him inside the house.

HP

Harry anxiously walked behind the tall man. '_He looks very stern, but he was speaking with me without being mean like Uncle Vernon, although he must be very angry that I came into his garden_,' he mused, looking around the room, into which the man led him, in surprise. It was a very bright room, which was surrounded by huge windows and bookshelves that reached from the floor to the ceiling.

"Sit," the man ordered him, pointing to one of the comfortable looking black arm chairs in the middle of the room. "Mr. Potter," he continued in a neutral voice that held no malice, "explain what happened."

Harry looked at the man in surprise. If he had told him that he was going to call his relatives or even the police, he wouldn't have been astonished. '_How come that he knows my name?_" he wondered, only now realising how Severus had addressed him.

"Excuse me sir," he hesitantly asked, "why do you know who I am?"

A sneer appeared on the man's face, before he replied, "You are the spitting image of your father."

"You knew my father, sir?" Harry asked, suddenly getting very excited. "I'm sorry sir, but you are the first person ever to mention my father. Can you..."

"Your father," the man interrupted him harshly, "and I have never been on good terms. However, I have been good friends with your mother. I even knew her before we attended Hogwarts."

"Hogwarts?" Harry asked shyly, feeling very happy to have met a friend of his mother.

HP

Severus closed his eyes for an instant, taking a deep breath in order to calm himself. '_Don't get so excited about meeting me, Potter_,' he thought in annoyance, '_your father was my arch enemy_.'

"Don't you know Hogwarts?" he asked with suspicion. "Don't tell me that your relatives have never informed you about our world."

"Our world?" the boy had the gall to ask. "I'm sorry sir, but I don't understand."

Somehow Severus knew that the boy was telling the truth. He let out a long sigh. '_Of course, leave it to Petunia to deny the existence of the magical world. Bitch_.'

He slowly cleared his throat, before he thoughtfully began to speak. "Mr. Potter, I assume that you are aware of the fact that you are a wizard."

"I'm sorry sir, but I'm sure that there must be a mistake," the boy replied in apparent disbelief. "I'm only Harry, a freak and a burden to all the good people."

Severus quirked an eyebrow. "Now Mr. Potter, have you never done anything," he paused for a second, before he continued, emphasizing the word, "strange? Anything, which your Aunt Petunia probably did not like at all, hmm?"

The boy looked at him, seemingly terrified. "See," Severus said, smirking. "Alone the fact that you were able to use this wand proves that you're a wizard. Now since you seem to be unable to tell me what happened, I will use magic and watch the scene myself. I'll try not to hurt you, but you must look at me for a moment and try to remember what happened earlier."

"Okay sir," Harry replied, staring at him with apparent anxiousness.

Severus pointed his wand at the boy. "Legilimens," he whispered, carefully entering the boy's mind. A few minutes later, he slowly ended the spell, deep in thoughts.

HP

Harry sighed in relief when he noticed that the man left his mind. During the last few minutes, many memories had come to the front of his mind, mainly very unpleasant ones, and his head was hurting badly. '_What did he do to me and how did he do that?_' he wondered, considering if the man was a freak like himself.

"You did not murder your cousin," the man's voice brought him back to reality. "Does your head hurt?" he then queried.

"A bit," Harry admitted, looking up in surprise that intensified when the man held out a small phial.

"Here," he said, "drink this. It'll help with the headache."

Harry eyed the strange object in confusion. "Is that medicine?" he finally asked in a barely audible voice. "I'm not allowed..." He slowly trailed off, noticing that the man's expression became very angry.

"Who told you that?" the man queried, sounding annoyed.

"My aunt and uncle," Harry replied in a small voice. "I'm not worth..."

"Nonsense," the man interrupted him. "Your aunt has despised the magical world from the time when she first heard about its existence. I always thought it was a bad idea that Professor Dumbledore placed you with your relatives, but he was very adamant that it would be the best for you." Seeing that Harry eyed him in confusion, he explained, "The Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

HP

Inwardly sighing, Severus observed how Harry hesitantly sipped the potion and then began to smile in apparent relief when the headache subsided. "Give me the wand," he demanded. "Did I understand correctly that you found it in the forest?"

"Yes sir," the boy replied, obediently handing over the wand.

Severus critically inspected the wand. Without even casting a spell at it, he knew who the owner was. Too often had he seen this wand during his time at Hogwarts as a student. In fact, they had been very good friends or so he had thought at that time. At the beginning of their second Hogwarts year, they had been confined to the hospital wing with a nasty bout of the grindylow pox at the same time. During that week, they had been very bored and had spent much time talking and playing wizard's chess together. Ever after that, they had often met in the afternoon and evening to study together – until a very unfortunate event in their fifth Hogwarts year put an end to any common activities. At that time, Severus had lost his two best friends, Lily and Remus, just within a few weeks.

'_I can imagine why he lost it at the edge of the forest_,' he thought grimly, but the small voice at the back of his mind corrected him immediately. '_What is he going to do without a wand? He needs it back urgently_.'

Severus let out a long sigh and, seeing that the child was looking at him in expectance, he said, "I will contact the owner of the wand. He was a good friend of your parents, too." He held out his right hand and summoned a piece of parchment and a quill and scribbled a short note.

'_Lupin,_

_Through mysterious circumstances your wand came into my possession. My fireplace will be open for you at 8 o'clock tonight as I expect you to come through and retrieve your belongings._

_SS'_

"Abraxas," he called his raven and attached the letter to the bird's feet. "Take this to Remus Lupin. Hurry."

HP

Harry observed the man's actions with surprise. '_I am a wizard, and he seems to be one, too_,' he thought, unsure if he should be scared by the man's stern attitude or relieved to have found someone, who seemed to be a freak like himself. "Excuse me for disturbing you, sir," he hesitantly addressed the older wizard and slowly rose from his seat.

"Sit," the man instructed him. "We need to discuss what to do with you."

Harry looked at the man in shock. "But I thought you said my cousin wasn't dead," he stammered. "Can I…"

"Do you want to return to your relatives?" the man queried, quirking an eyebrow.

Realising that the wizard's expression had softened some, Harry felt slightly relieved. "No sir," he replied in a small voice. "Please don't take me back there."

HP

Severus closely observed the boy, wondering what to do with him. '_I can't keep him here_,' he mused. '_I can't take him with me to Hogwarts at the end of the holidays against Albus' wishes. On the other hand, I will not return him to an abusive home_.' Having seen enough memories of the abuse that the boy had endured from his uncle, he decided to speak with his two colleagues and best friends, Minerva and Poppy.

"Mr. Potter," he addressed the child and shortly explained the problem, before he motioned the boy to wait and headed to the fireplace to call Hogwarts.

A few minutes later, Minerva and Poppy entered the parlour, where he was quietly talking to the boy about Hogwarts.

HP

Harry looked up with anxiousness as two older ladies in what seemed to be long one-pieces entered the room.

"These are Professor McGonagall," the man explained, pointing to the woman in the green one-piece, "and Madam Pomfrey, my colleagues. They both knew your parents well."

While the professor looked very strict, the woman in the blue one-piece was smiling at him. "Hello Harry," she said friendly. "What a lovely surprise to see you here."

"Severus, please explain," the professor voiced sternly. "As much as I dislike the fact that Albus left Harry with his relatives, we can't just simply act against his wishes."

Harry quickly averted his eyes to the floor, wondering if he could try to wish himself away, when the man replied in a slightly angry voice. "Mr. Potter has been verbally and physically abused by his relatives. I have been abused by my father, and still I had to return to that place every summer. I will not allow Lily's son to suffer any more abuse."

"Severus," the professor countered, sighing. "Do you have any proof? Boys talk a lot when the day is long."

"Minerva," the man replied with a menacing undertone in his voice. "Mr. Potter did not tell me anything. However, I used Legilimency on him. I would like Poppy to cast a diagnostic spell. That should clarify everything."

The lady in the blue one-piece turned to Harry. "Harry, are you used to magic? I'm going to cast a spell at you. This will not hurt you, but it is necessary, so that we can help you."

"Okay," Harry replied in a small voice. No one had ever smiled at him in such a way. He felt that the woman liked him, although he could not understand why anyone would like a freak like him. Somehow, he knew that she would not hurt him and stared into her face to make his anxiousness go away as she began to wave her wand over him.

Suddenly, a long piece of paper emerged from the tip of the witch's wand, and the three adults eagerly began to study the writing. Frightened, Harry noticed that their expressions, especially that of the woman in the blue one-piece, became very angry. '_What did I do wrong?_' he wondered, when the woman finally spoke up.

"Minerva, Severus, I am going to report the Dursleys to the Ministry of Magic for child abuse," she said in apparent determination.

Harry slowly tuned the voices out as the adults discussed the matter. All of a sudden, he felt very tired and also noticed that his back began to hurt again. '_The medicine the man gave me earlier helped with the pain_,' he realised. '_It would be so great if he could give me more of it later on_.' Feeling very much reassured in the presence of the three adults, who seemed to be freaks like him and apparently wanted to help him, he slowly drifted off to sleep, unaware of the fact that a fourth adult joined them after a while.

HP

Severus smirked, noticing that the boy had fallen asleep. '_Oh well, that'll make it easier to talk about him as if he was listening_.' Keeping his voice from any malicious undertone, he began to tell Remus Lupin how Harry had found his wand at the edge of the forest, while his female colleagues carefully brought Harry into a lying position and gently covered him with a quickly conjured blanket. '_Leave it to Minerva to give him an orange blanket with roaring lions in yellow and red in spite of being in my house_,' he thought, annoyed.

During the next few hours, the four adults discussed Harry's near future. However, due to the fact that Remus, who was the only one of them who was not bound to Hogwarts ten months a year, was a werewolf and as such would not be able to raise Harry Potter alone, they realised soon that they needed to involve the Headmaster.

"If he doesn't agree, we can still try to hide Harry, apart from that he won't be able to send Harry back to the Dursleys' if they face a trial for child abuse," Poppy said decisively, and her friends agreed full heartedly.

HP

When Harry woke up, he found himself in an extremely comfortable bed in a very large, bright room. The room was equipped with dark brown, very expensive looking furniture, and he took in his surroundings in confusion, before his view fell through the huge windows onto the garden, making him recall the events of the previous day. '_Oh no, I fell asleep while they were discussing what to do with me_,' he remembered. '_Now they're going to be really angry_.'

Before he could further follow the thought, he heard a small plop, and all of a sudden a strange creature was standing in front of him. He backed up with fright, eyeing the being that was not much taller than himself, anxiously.

"Good morning, Master Harry. Don't be afraid," the creature began to speak in a surprisingly gentle voice. "I am Sophia, Master Severus' house-elf here at Prince Manor. Master Severus wants you to go and take a shower." She pointed to a door. "The bathroom is over there, and I have laid out clothes for Master Harry to wear. When you're finished, come downstairs for breakfast. Afterwards, you will go to Hogwarts to see Professor Dumbledore together with Master Severus."

HP

As fast as he could Harry complied, hesitantly putting on the beautiful clothes that Sophia had laid out for him. '_They're new, just like Dudley's_,' he thought, amazed as he descended the stairs and hesitantly took the offered seat at the breakfast table.

"Good morning, Mr. Potter," the older wizard greeted him, while he placed two pieces of toast with marmalade on the plate in front of Harry. "I hope you had a good rest?"

"Yes sir, thank you so very much sir," Harry replied, tentatively following the man's invitation to eat.

"Mr. Potter, we will go to Hogwarts today," the professor explained shortly.

Harry looked at the older wizard in delight. "To Hogwarts?" he asked, unwilling to believe his luck. "Will I not have to return to my relatives?"

"No," Snape replied, raising an eyebrow. "My colleagues and I will try to convince the Headmaster to find a more adequate guardian for you. If he agrees, one of us is going to become your guardian, so that you can live at Hogwarts with us, provided that is what you want."

'_I'm going to live at Hogwarts_,' Harry thought, feeling happier than he recalled to have ever felt before. "Thank you so much, sir," he said gratefully, before he finally took a bite off his toast.

HP

After breakfast, Severus motioned Harry to stand in front of the fireplace. "I believe that you have never travelled through the Floo Network," he stated, looking at the boy, who stood in front of him with a puzzled expression. "Very well then, I'm going to take you through." He stepped into the fireplace. "Come here, Mr. Potter. Stand right next to me."

An instant later, he pulled the boy out of the fireplace at Poppy's office.

"Harry, Severus," Poppy greeted them friendly, carefully laying her arm around Harry's shoulder, before she introduced the boy to Remus Lupin.

While Harry was still talking with the man, delighted to hear that he had also been good friends with his parents, Professor McGonagall arrived through the fireplace, and the small group headed for the Headmaster's office.

HP

"Severus, I suggest that you take the boy to Hogwarts with you," Lupin spoke up after the Potions Master told the Headmaster what had happened. "Harry seems to have chosen you by apparating to your place. I am sure Lily would appreciate you becoming his guardian. She never got along with Petunia and wouldn't have wanted Harry to stay with her."

"Remus, we don't have a primary school at Hogwarts," McGonagall replied crisply, "and we all have to teach classes. Harry needs a proper education even before coming to Hogwarts as a student."

"Maybe Remus could come and teach Harry a few hours each day," Poppy suggested, recalling that the former student, who had spent at least one day a month in her domain, had been very good at school.

"I'd love to teach Harry," Lupin said slowly, "however, will everyone be all right with me coming to Hogwarts in spite of my furry problem?"

The four adults finally looked at the Headmaster, who so far had remained quiet during their discussion. "The blood wards," he said finally. "Harry must return to his relatives, because the blood wards, which I set up around the Dursley residence, are going to keep him safe. He needs his relatives' protection."

Severus smiled inwardly when Minerva and Poppy let out a simultaneous snort. "Keeping him safe?" Poppy was the first to question the Headmaster's words aloud, before she repeated her threat to report the Dursleys to the Ministry because of child abuse.

"He needs to stay together with relatives who share Lily's blood?" Lupin asked with apparent interest.

The Headmaster nodded his head, slowly popping a lemon drop into his mouth.

"Then why can't Harry simply give a sufficient amount of blood to his future guardian, for example Severus? That way, the person would possess Lily's blood as well."

"Remus, you're brilliant," Poppy once again beat Minerva, who looked equally pleased at the proposition.

"This might work," Dumbledore thoughtfully agreed. "Severus, would you be willing to do this though?"

Severus let out a long sigh. "Since it was Lupin's idea, I suggest that he should be the one to take Potter's blood," he replied in a soft voice.

"Well, I don't have to lose anything anyway, considering my monthly problem," Lupin agreed immediately. "I'd feel honoured if I could do this for Harry."

"When is the next full moon?" Dumbledore queried.

"In exactly one week," Lupin informed him, glancing at the Headmaster with apprehensiveness.

"Then we should pull through with this quickly," Poppy decided. "Remus' body will need enough time to get used to Harry's blood before the transformation, especially since we must repeat the process on three consecutive days."

"Poppy, then why don't you take Remus and Harry with you?" the Headmaster suggested gently.

HP

Severus looked at the Headmaster in expectance, while Harry left the office together with Poppy and Remus. However, when he glanced at the door from the corners of his eyes, he felt a small bit of jealousy observing how Lupin and the boy turned to the staircase, obviously happily talking to each other. '_I'm being stupid_,' he scolded himself. '_He is a Potter_.'

'_He is Lily's son even more than Potter's_,' a small voice at the back of his head informed him, only to add, '_but you're going to become the boy's official guardian anyway, since a werewolf won't be deemed a fit guardian_.'

'_Well, that's definitely true_,' Severus thought and was not in the slightest surprised when the Headmaster addressed him.

"Severus, if the boy is going to remain at Hogwarts, you must become his permanent guardian. The magical world would send me to the secluded ward at St. Mungo's if I made a werewolf Harry Potter's guardian."

"They should have rather sent you there for placing him with abusive Muggles," Minerva threw in, glaring at her older colleague.

Severus cast his former teacher an appreciative look, before he replied calmly, "You are asking a lot, Albus, considering that the boy is my childhood enemy's offspring." Knowing that Minerva was going to point out that Lily had been his best friend, he quickly continued, "Very well then, will you please instruct the house-elves to prepare a room for the boy that is connected to my quarters as well as to Lupin's rooms. Even outside of class I don't have time to continuously baby-sit the boy."

"Of course, Severus," the Headmaster replied gently. "Considering how adept Lily was at Potions if I remember correctly, maybe it would be wise if you taught the boy. Maybe he will be able and willing to assist with your work before even entering Hogwarts as a student."

HP

During the following three days, Harry and Remus Lupin had to come to the hospital wing every afternoon, where Madam Pomfrey magically connected the two wizards and transferred a large amount of blood from Harry to Remus.

When Madam Pomfrey released Remus and him on the first day, Professor Snape led Harry to his own room. '_My own room_,' Harry thought in disbelief, curiously glancing around. The room was kept in different shades of blue, held a huge four-poster bed, a large bookshelf, a desk, a chair and a wardrobe that was equipped with many new clothes. An enchanted window covered the wall opposite the door and allowed him to look out onto the grounds and the lake. '_This is too cool_,' he thought as he observed how Professor McGonagall, Madam Pomfrey and a third witch were flying over the grounds on broomsticks.

Not only his two guardians but also the other adults, who were living in the castle, were very kind and taught him many things. In the mornings, he had classes with Remus; however, since it was still during the summer holidays, in the afternoon he was allowed to do as he pleased. One day, Professor McGonagall asked him if he wanted to help preparing the timetables for the students, and on the next day, Professor Snape, whom he was supposed to call Severus, motioned him to follow him into his private potions lab, where he began to teach him about the brewing of potions.

For the first time in his life, Harry felt really happy. No one here called him a freak, everyone could do magic just like him, he was allowed to eat his meals together with everyone else, and the adults behaved towards him like Aunt Petunia used to treat Dudley. '_Everyone here is very nice_,' he thought one evening when he got ready for bed and waited for Remus to come and tuck him in. '_However, I think I like Remus and Poppy most. They are the kindest of all_.'

However, when Remus entered his room a few minutes later, the man seemed strangely agitated. He sat on the edge of his bed and said quietly, "Harry, I am sorry, but I will not be here until the day after tomorrow. If you need anything, you must go to Severus."

"Why?" Harry asked, looking at the older wizard with anxiousness. '_Did he notice that I am a freak and doesn't like me anymore?_' he wondered, almost beginning to panic.

"Harry," Remus hesitantly began to explain, "I am a werewolf. There are wizards, who turn into wolves during the full moon, and I am one of them. In order to not endanger you, I will go away during that time. Good night, sweetie. I love you." With that he placed a kiss onto Harry's forehead and gently tucked him in. "Now sleep," he said, smiling, before he left the room.

However, sleep did not come easily. '_How can people turn into wolves? Maybe this isn't true, and he just doesn't want to live together with me anymore_,' Harry thought. Tears came into his eyes, and he sobbed himself into sleep. A few hours later, he woke up again. '_Maybe I should go and search him_,' he mused and finally got up. Although he had no clue where to look for Remus, he crossed Remus' quarters and stepped out into the dungeon corridor.

HP

Severus was just brewing the third batch of the wizard's flu potion in a row, when the wards that he had placed around his and Lupin's quarters alerted him to the fact that Harry Potter had just left their rooms.

'_Just like his father, gallivanting through the castle at night_,' he thought in annoyance, quickly putting his potion under a stasis charm, before he strode out into the corridor.

"Where do you think you're going?" he hissed, towering over the boy.

To his surprise, the boy began to cry. "I'm sorry Severus," he sobbed, "but I'm looking for Remus."

In total disbelief, Severus listened to the child's explanations and finally instructed him to follow him into the living room. He made the boy sit down on the sofa and called Cicero, his personal house-elf at Hogwarts. "Cicero, please bring a hot cocoa for Harry and tea for me," he ordered the elf, placing a large tome on the table in front of Harry. Pointing to a page in the book that showed a werewolf's transformation in detailed pictures, he explained to the child about werewolves.

HP

'_It's sad that Remus won't be here tomorrow, but at least he did not lie to me_,' Harry thought, feeling very consoled when he returned to his bed, where he fell asleep immediately.

However, when he woke up in the morning, Remus was sitting on the edge of his bed.

"Remus," Harry mumbled tiredly, "I thought you were a werewolf today."

"I thought so too," the older wizard replied with a huge smile on his face, seeming very happy about something. "However, I did not transform last night, and Madam Pomfrey and Professor Snape think that your blood must have cured me from Lycanthropy. We will only know if this cure is permanent after a few months, but it seems that I am not a werewolf anymore. Thank you Harry."

With that the ex-werewolf pulled the boy into a bear hug, and Harry, too happy and pre-occupied with amazement to even flinch back, happily leaned into the touch. "I love you too, Dad," he whispered, feeling happier and safer than he had ever felt before.

**The End**


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